Dark Princess
by Alexawynters
Summary: HBIC Quinn Fabray goes missing for months on end, and is presumed dead. Rachel refuses to believe this is true and goes in search of her teammate. What she finds may turn out to be more than she bargained for. Sorry, I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

Author: Kitty Squyres

Characters: Rachel and Quinn with most of the Gleeks.

Spoilers: All of season 1, up to 2/07 The Substitute. Completely overlooks everything else after xP

Rating: Pg-13 mild swearing, occasional fight scenes. Vampirism. :P

Author's note: Was first written with original characters and not for Glee, but as it went on I decided it would be better with Glee's characters. Some characters are a bit out of character, but that's due once again to the fact that this was not originally written for Glee. Still working on the In Character parts, what can I say? It's a work in progress.

Author's Note 2: Title subject to change. Really. I'm not fond of it, but hated leaving it untitled.

Disclaimer: Does it LOOK like I own Glee? If I did, it would be quite different than the show is now. And Finn would have been dumped by both our leading ladies right off the bat. Sorry. Finn is too stupid to live. One too many tackles, me thinks? Not really, and I don't mean to Finn-bash.. much. Glee characters are all property of Fox and Ryan Murphy. Any original characters are mine. Want? Ask and you may archive.

Rough Draft

Chapter 1:

With the high school dropout rate at an all time high, it barely registered to anyone at William McKinley High when a student essentially dropped off the face of the earth. However, when that student is HBIC Quinn Fabray, head cheerleader and former captain of the celibacy club, people do begin to take notice. Even after the pregnancy debacle, Quinn had fought her way tooth and nail back to becoming top dog and though she had become since the pregnancy (even going so far as banning slushy attacks on her fellow Gleeks) Quinn was still a force to be reckoned with. The hallways once again parted like the red sea when the cheerleader strutted down the hallway and when her icy glare was ever sent at a particular student, you had better believe that student immediately took off in the other direction in fear of their life.

So even though Quinn had few people she actually called friends (she had minions), her absence was immediately noted due to the fact that some people were actually able to breathe a little easier. No one really thought much of it, chalking it up to Quinn either being sick or skipping. By the second day however, with not even so much as a text message to either Santana or Brittany on her whereabouts, Quinn was absent once again and people really began to notice. By the third day of no attendance the school was finally forced to call Mrs. Fabray to question her daughter's truancy.

Judy had taken her daughter back in and was in the process of divorcing Russell, but that didn't make the older blond suddenly become mother of the year. It was clear she was trying but that failed to take away from the awkward tension that seemed to permeate the house. More often than not, to avoid being the control freak she had been previously, Mrs. Fabray would let her youngest daughter go out whenever and wherever she wanted, rarely inquiring what she was doing. It came as quite the surprise when Principal Figgins phoned her wanting to know why Quinn hadn't been in attendance for three days straight. Judy explained that she had thought her daughter was staying at a friend's and was unaware that Quinn had been absent. Not long after that call a missing persons report was filed and Quinn was officially MIA.

With Quinn missing the school's hierarchy returned full force with Coach Sylvester at its head. In fact you could say that things were worse now than they ever were before Quinn got pregnant. The jocks made sure that all of the Gleeks got a slushy facial at least twice a day if not sometimes more. More and more members of New Directions were missing classes due to being tossed into dumpsters and or locked in port-a-potties. Life for the Gleeks at William McKinley was quickly becoming unbearable.

It didn't help that in Glee they were all falling apart there too. What was once their safe haven was now just another class room. Without Quinn to snap at them to shut it, Rachel, Kurt and Mercedes spent the period at each other's throats. Not even Santana had the energy to snarl at them, being too busy trying to comfort a depressed looking Brittany. Mike, Matt and Artie just conversed quietly in the corner with Tina occasionally joining in. Puck, Sam and Finn just sat and sulked in the corner. Their family that they had built was crumbling around them and there was nothing anybody could do about it. Eventually everyone stopped trying for performances all together, even Rachel.

Oddly, no one felt the absence of Quinn more so than the little diva. It surprised her just how much of her life revolved around the other girl. Before, it was spent both avoiding Quinn and her snappishness and trying to steal Quinn's boyfriend. Now that she had him, since Quinn was gone, Finn was too busy pouting to be of any decent conversation. Not that Rachel even really wanted to talk. More like she wanted to theorize on what happened to Quinn. She just knew something had happened to the older girl, but had no idea what. Now everything was falling apart right before her eyes and Rachel was going to be damned if she let that happen. She would find out what happened to Quinn and fix her Glee club.

A few months later, though no body was found, Quinn was legally declared dead. It was probably the worst day for everyone in Glee ever. No one heard a word that was said in any of their classes, too lost in their own thoughts. When the slushy facials were delivered, hardly any of the Gleeks noticed. They simply shrugged it off and continued walking with next to no expression. Glee was even more awful. Not one person could bring themselves to say anything, much less sing. A black cloud hung over them all and the class period was spent in silence.

The day for the funeral finally arrived and was filled with tears from all but one person. Unlike her friends (she was hesitant to call them that) Rachel couldn't bring herself to cry. This was all wrong. The casket currently being lowered into the earth was empty, so why were they burying it as though Quinn were right inside it? It didn't make sense. Her fathers told her it was just wishful thinking but Rachel's sixth sense (which was never wrong) was telling her that Quinn was still alive and out there somewhere. She felt irrationally angry, how dare everyone just give up on Quinn like this? They should be out there scouring the city in search of the blond, not here at some pointless service that was pointless because Quinn WASN'T dead!

Rachel knew she looked heartless for showing no emotion but as she stared at the coffin unseeing and listening to the sobs fill the air around her the diva lost herself in thought. Quinn was alive. She had to be. After all, no body, no death right? Yes, Quinn was alive and Rachel would find her. There were few certain truths that Rachel Berry believed with all her heart. One was that she was destined to be a star. The second: Mr. Schue was out to ruin her career, and third: Alive until proven otherwise. Until Rachel saw Quinn's dead body (and maybe not even then) she would refuse to give up on the other girl.

The service ended and everyone began trickling out to their cars. Soon only Rachel and her fathers remained. Hiram and Leroy hung back to give their daughter the space and time she needed. They had never known Quinn and Rachel to be friends, quite the opposite in fact, but the way their daughter was staring at the newly filled in earth you would think she had just lost someone very close to her.

The diva stepped forward and knelt on the ground next to the grave, placing her hand on it. "I know you're alive Quinn… I will find you and bring you back. I know we're not the best of friends but I won't give up on you. I won't stop searching till you're safely home again," she whispered softly. Suddenly Rachel's sixth sense wasn't just tingling; it was full on screaming at her. Every hair on her body stood on end and she was certain that she was being watched. Straightening, the diva's eyes followed the gaze she was feeling all the way to the tree line. They were too far in for Rachel to make them out but that didn't make them any less there. She stared hard at the tree line, willing whoever was there to show themselves. They didn't and though she felt slightly let down, Rachel knew somehow that whoever was looking at her was somehow related to the missing girl. She felt like the person staring at her was issuing a silent challenge to which Rachel more than happily accepted. Raising her chin, Rachel repeated her promise, louder this time, making sure her words carried over the wind.

Hiram and Leroy stared at their daughter in confusion, wondering who she was talking to. Sure she had a thing for dramatics, but who was she putting on a show for? Them? She knew better than to think they would do anything but smile and nod for her. They decided it was time to go and quietly guided their daughter to the car. Whatever was going on with Rachel they were sure she would get over it eventually. If not, if her friend's death had really gotten to her that badly, they could always afford a therapist.

From the edges of the forest, a blond girl stepped out into the pale light, her gaze following the Berry's car until it was completely gone from sight. Slowly the girl walked towards the grave Rachel had been standing at. She stared at the tombstone for a long time, a single tear rolling down her cheek before she roughly wiped it away and ran back into the woods.

Like? No? Thoughts please? Sorry for its OOC-ness. Not too terribly proud of this, but hey. It's been in my brain for the last 6 years sooo.. :P Please R&R, even if its to tell me you hate it. If you hate it, please let me know what I can improve upon.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Author's Note: So... this totally went better in my head but..oh well.

Author's Note 2: OH! Terribly sorry, I forgot to add in the first chapter, thank you to the awesome author Itwasadream, for reading this over for me and telling me to go ahead with it. You rock! Everyone: Go read their fic: Beautiful When You Don't Try. It's epic. Truly.

For the next few weeks, nothing of any particular interest happened in Lima and it was driving Rachel up the wall. She felt that awful, like she was reneging on her promise already. The gold star obsessed girl took it as a personal offense that she hadn't made any headway whatsoever on her quest for information. Not to say that she hadn't tried. No, Rachel Berry never did anything half-assed. She had spent a significant amount of her savings to pay Suzy Pepper to hack into the school's and Quinn's computers, looking for any sign as to what may have happened to the girl. Rachel had even given that pervert Jacob Ben Israel another pair of her panties for him to dig up some dirt on the last people Quinn had hung out with. No luck. There was almost nothing at all to be revealed for all Rachel's effort.

That was probably the most telling thing really: the lack of information. Rachel had gone back to check her Myspace page in search of Quinn's scathing comments, but found that anything dated after last year was mysteriously gone. It was like Quinn of 2010 had been whitewashed electronically. A quick sneak peek into Quinn's school file, (Rachel felt it would vastly improve her acting abilities should she ever need to play a spy or thief in her future on stage) had shown that that too was missing. Rachel had never really been one for conspiracies, but someone clearly didn't want Quinn to be found and she was becoming more and more frustrated with each wall she seemed to run into. Which was a lot. How was Rachel supposed to find Quinn if any and all information pertaining to the girl this year was gone?

It didn't make sense. Who would do this and why? The government? Rachel scoffed. What could they possibly want with a formerly pregnant head cheerio? Nothing. It had to be someone else. Someone with power who didn't want anyone to know they existed. Once it became clear that she wasn't going to find any information at school, Rachel hurried home to outline a list of possible groups that could be capable of this, making sure to color code and highlight. Looking back at her work, Rachel mentally rolled her eyes at herself. This was ridiculous. Not one of the groups she had picked were likely candidates. She pinched the bridge of her nose and put her work aside for the day. Rachel would try again tomorrow.

Another week had gone by and Rachel still hadn't gotten anywhere. That her biggest break was that Quinn had been whitewashed and THAT had taken ages to find out was not doing anything for Rachel's mood. While Finn had gone back to walking his girlfriend to classes again, he was finding it more and more difficult as Rachel constantly felt the need to bounce her theories off him (and he was convinced Quinn was dead, having gone to the funeral) and eventually ended up avoiding his girlfriend all together. The diva didn't mind. She barely noticed except to realize that she had a bit more time on her hand to continue on her quest.

Glee had ended early that day and Rachel had stayed behind to utilize the library for her search. It was almost five before Rachel finally looked at the time and bolted up, realizing if she didn't go soon she would be locked in. Though she was alone in the hallway as she made her way to her locker, Rachel oddly felt comforted. It was familiar. Not only that, but her sixth sense was going off again, letting her know that someone was watching her. Not in a creepy 'maybe I should run' kind of way, but more of an 'I've got your back' kind of way. It should have disconcerting either way but Rachel welcomed it. She was alone a lot lately with Finn avoiding her and everyone in Glee still grieving and it felt nice to feel another presence even if they weren't readily visible.

As the diva slid her books into her locker she paused and smiled. The feeling of being watched had intensified. "I know you're there," she said quietly.

Silence.

"That's ok," Rachel continued. "you don't have to say anything. I don't know who you are or where you are, but I know you're there. I just wanted to thank you for staying by me so I'm not alone."

More silence.

Rachel continued speaking, though she never turned from her locker. "I know that's why you're here. You're looking out for me. I've felt you in the halls these last few days. I haven't received a slushy facial once, and somehow I know that you are to thank for that. I've also felt you shadowing me home. I should probably be worried considering this is borderline stalking and tell my dads to get me a new can of Mace, but I don't. I know you're only protecting me. From what, I'm not entirely sure, but I thought you should know that I appreciate it. It's… nice. So… Thank you."

As she had spoken, Rachel had felt the feeling intensify to the point that she could swear whoever it was that was watching her was standing right behind her. Quickly she spun around, hoping to come face to face with her guardian angel. Instead Rachel encountered only an empty hallway. She mentally berated herself. If this person had remained hidden and anonymous for this long, they probably weren't going to show themselves now. The diva tried not to feel too disappointed. After all, the feeling was still there so, so must that person even if Rachel couldn't see them just now.

More weeks went by and Rachel continued to spend every afternoon and lunch searching for answers. Always she felt the presence near her. Still no slushy facials, which everyone questioned but nobody seemed to have an answer to. Only Rachel knew what was going on. Well not in full disclosure, just that whoever was following her around had somehow made it clear to everyone that Rachel Berry was now off-limits for bullying. Rachel found herself intensely grateful that for the first time in the three years that she had attended William McKinley High, she went more than a day without having to change her outfit in the middle of a school day.

Unfortunately, everyone else in Glee were still prime targets. Time Rachel would have usually spent in bathrooms removing the freezing concoction of corn syrup and sugar off herself was now spent removing it off her fellow Glee clubbers. It began cutting into the diva's 'Quest for Quinn' time and Rachel briefly contemplated asking the presence to assist her friends as well. She changed her mind however, feeling that she didn't have the right to really ask anything and should simply be grateful for what she was given. It seemed however, that the presence was incredibly intuitive, because eventually the attacks on the Gleeks ceased as well.

Once again Rachel found herself at her locker at the end of the day, uttering words of thanks and appreciation. The diva felt almost warm for a moment, as though someone was hugging her and saying 'you're welcome.' Of course this wasn't so, but that didn't stop Rachel from getting the unspoken message loud and clear. With her trade-mark 100 mega-watt Rachel Berry smile, the girl set off for home.

Rachel was almost home, talking animatedly all the way at the still unseen presence. Yes it was a tad one-sided for a conversation, but everyone (including Rachel herself) knew she could talk more than enough for two. Besides, after all this time, the diva had learned to interpret the various different feelings that her sixth sense was sending her. It was almost as though she were receiving the proper emotions to what she said from the presence. Rachel could tell when something she said made the presence happy, sad, or even angry. Hmm.. Rachel decided aloud that perhaps she should stop referring to whatever this was as 'the presence'. It just sounded weird and well.. crazy, and Rachel Berry was NOT crazy. Granted, also talking to someone who 'wasn't there' was also crazy. The presence was amused.

Rachel was about to ask the presence what he or she (Rachel highly suspected it was a she) wanted to be called, when she felt it: something was wrong. Every hair stood at attention on the back of her neck. This wasn't like the time at the cemetery when she first felt the presence of her mysterious guardian angel. No, this was danger. Rachel needed to move and get somewhere safe soon. Preferably like, now. Unfortunately, if horror movies had taught the petite singer anything, it was that running was always a very bad idea. Better to walk calmly as though nothing was wrong. Adding to Rachel's misfortune, she was in the middle of a very deserted street, still fifteen minutes from home and there really was nowhere to hide.

A loud honk startled Rachel and she let out a high pitched shriek and fell over. The honk had come from a silver and blue 2010 Mustang that had suddenly pulled up next to her. Still on the ground, Rachel stared up in fear as the passenger window rolled down. Fear changed to shock and Rachel looked at the faces of Santana and Brittany.

"Hi Rachel!" exclaimed Brittany's usually perky self. Santana just glowered. "Get in the car, Berry. It's getting dark out."

Normally Rachel would have been hesitant borderline terrified of sharing a car ride with the two Cheerios. Considering that Rachel had just been terrified only moments ago of some random person setting out to kill her only moments ago, she decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Hastily scrambling up, she crawled into the backseat on the passenger side of the car as soon as Brittany held the door open for her. The diva slumped in the seat and took deep calming breaths and decided to thank her (unknowing) rescuers.

"Though your act of kindness is unexpected, I greatly appreciate this lift home Santana."

The Latina growled. "Can it Berry. The only thing I want to hear out of your mouth is 'goodbye'. It wasn't my idea, B. was about to pitch a fit if I didn't give you a lift home or something. Though why she would want to give a troll like you a ride home is beyond me." Santana glared half-heartedly at her blonde companion before putting the car in drive and heading towards Rachel's house (its location was a common fact, being that it was a frequent target of both the Cheerio and Jocks egging).

Rachel brushed aside Santana's brusqueness and beamed at Brittany. "Thank you Brittany, that was very thoughtful of you."

Brittany turned in her seat and returned the smile. "That's ok. Besides if we didn't pick you up, something bad was going to happen to you and then I would be sad. You sing pretty, I would miss it."

Even though the Latina accepted what Brittany had said at face value, Rachel couldn't help but frown. The Dutch girl sounded as though she knew more than she had just let on. "What do you mean, Brittany?"

Brittany just continued her happily blank smile at Rachel. "The text message said something bad was going to happen to you if we didn't pick you up. You're the only one aside from S and.. Q.. to not talk to me like I'm dumb.. I would be sad if you weren't at school anymore." The blonde said all this as if it were the most simplest thing in the world. Rachel gaped.

"Text message? Someone warned you to come get me?"

Nod.

Rachel couldn't believe it. This knowledge only fueled her paranoia that maybe someone might be out to get her. At first she assumed it was probably just somebody who was jealous of her talent, but something made her think that maybe this was a bit bigger than that.

"Could-could I see the message, please, Brittany?"

The cheerful girl nodded and handed over her Samsung Galaxy S Pro (yeah, shameless promotion). Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course one of the top three cheerleaders would have a top of the line phone. Clicking Messages, the diva opened the most recent text message. It was from a blocked number.

'_Pick up Rachel and bring her home safe, someone is trying to hurt her. I'll make sure S gets you another duck plushy.'_

The diva stared, dumbfounded. This was Rachel's big break. Someone knew what was going on and was trying to help her out. This could be her only clue. Shakily she handed the phone back. "Um, Brittany? Could you please be so kind as to inform me who sent you that message?"

Brittany shrugged. "Sorry Rach, I don't know the number, its blocked. I just got it and asked S. to come get you." She smiled in thanks at Santana, who temporarily melted under her best friend's sweet gaze before returning her gaze to the road.

Rachel nodded in understanding and disappointment. Well. There went that 'lead'. For every half answer Rachel seemed to obtain, she also received more questions and dead ends. The car was filled with silence as the Latina drove towards the Berry residence, each of the girls left to their own thoughts.

As they pulled up to Rachel's house and Brittany opened the door to let her out, the blonde spoke up. "I think it's really great that you haven't given up on Q." Rachel's head snapped up. No one bothered talking with her about the missing girl anymore. Most either felt it was too painful, or that Rachel was crazy for still believing.

Brittany offered Rachel another smile. "Everyone else thinks you're being your usual…" Brittany paused, looking to Santana for help. Her counterpart just sighed and rolled her eyes, "Neurotic, crazy, stupid?" she supplied.

The blond shot Santana a warning look and continued. "Anyways, thank you for not giving up. If anyone can find Q, it'll be you Rachel. Bring my best friend back, ok?" Rachel nodded, again still too shocked to say anything. Santana chose this moment to speak up.

"Come on, Britt, lets go. I have to get you another duck.. Oh, and Man-Hands? If it helps any, not that I care, but Q spent a lot of time in the library before…" she trailed off. "Well anyway, that might be a place to start, or something. Whatever. Hurry up B, before the stores close."

Brittany squealed and jumped into the car. "Bye Rachel!"

The diva seemed to snap out of her stupor finally. "Um.. Bye Brittany, Santana. Thank you again so much for the lift to-"

"Later, Man-Hands!" Santana slammed on the gas and her Mustang shot off into the distance, tires squealing.

Rachel sighed, briefly contemplating the creation of a PowerPoint highlighting the proper way to accelerate your car without causing damage to your engine and or anyone else around you to present to Santana the next day. The idea was immediately dropped when the visual of the Latina breaking her nose ran unbidden through Rachel's mind. Better to pick her battles, and this was one that didn't need to be fought just now. Maybe at a later date. The diva made a mental note to remember that later and made her way into her house.

That night as Rachel tried in vain to get to sleep, she pondered over the text message Brittany had received. The way it was worded made it seem like it was from someone they knew. The only ones who called the three cheerios by their initials were Coach Sylvester and themselves. It seemed highly unlikely that Sue would ever try and help her, which pretty much left just Quinn.

Was that even possible? Sure, Rachel thought Quinn to still be alive, but then.. that would mean that Quinn knew she was looking for her. Why didn't she simply show herself then? Why was she protecting Rachel and what from? If she was able enough to follow the little diva around and text her friends to give Rachel a lift, why was she letting everyone believe that she was dead? All these thoughts flitted around in Rachel's brain until she was too tired and eventually drifted off into sleep. She would check the library tomorrow for answers. For now, her brain needed some serious rest.

Please drop me a review, let me know how I can improve on character and what not. I felt it rambled a bit, personally. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Hey guys I'm sorry for the late delay and the fact that this isnt a chapter (trust me, cuz I HATE when authors do this to me) but I gotta say this: Life is seriously getting in my way. Normally I'd consider that a great thing, except I really want to write this. I personally hate when author's abandon stories and or when they write really short chapters. But I think the only way I'm going to be able to get any of this out is if I keep the chapters to be really tiny. I think I could update more often that way, since its less daunting and less typing at one time. Would you all be too terribly opposed if I started keeping the chapters down to like drabble sized? I really hate making them so short but if I have to keep them longer, it will also mean a much longer wait between chapters. So sorry about this guys, I'm trying I promise!


	4. Chapter3

Chapter 3:

Author's note: Oh my GOD! I am like overwhelmed by the response to this. Thank you so much for all the alerts, favorites and reviews. It means so much to me! I'm sorry for the wait, and I feel bad I kind of threw this out as fast as possible, taking from its quality I think.

Author's Note 2: Life ONLY seems to come around once I start writing. Then as soon as I give up trying to write, bam, life calms down. -_- So sorry about the delay. So Essentially in order to get this out quicker this is how its gonna go: I'm going to write as much as I can in one sitting, and post it as a chapter.. therefore… lots of random ending points. I'm sorry! It's the best I can do L

Request! Haha I know you guys are like shut up and get to the fic! But please bear with me for all of two seconds (+). Have any of you seen Heroes? For those of you that have, I dunno if you remember, but Dianna Agron played the HBIC Debbie Marshall at Costa Verde in season 2. Sadly, she only had like 4 episodes, but I thought it was hilarious. Anyone whose seen this and loves me wanna write a Claire/Debbie fic? I would like grovel at your feet. I just wanna see it done once. Just once, and I'll be happy. K, sorry I'm done. Onward!

Having spent the majority of her time searching for Quinn in the school's library, Rachel felt thoroughly embarrassed at having never even thought to check on Quinn's book list. Though she was positive it was against the rules, the petite diva waited until the librarian took her lunch break before sitting in front of the woman's computer and looked for Quinn's account. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled it up and had never been so happy to encounter incompetence before. Whoever had wiped all of Quinn's information earlier had clearly missed this little golden nugget. It was almost disappointing how easy this was.

There were a surprising amount of books the cheerleader had checked out. Rachel knew she shouldn't have been surprised; after all, the girl was on the Honor Roll, so clearly she wasn't dumb. Rachel had just never seen the blond with a book in her hand before. Then again, Rachel had never really spent that much time observing Quinn, and this list proved it. She browsed the list until she reached the most recent check out and return, dated a week before Quinn's disappearance.

_( insert book title)_

Strange. According to the summary, this was a book about vampires.. fantasy simply didn't strike Rachel as something Quinn would be interested in. Then again, see: Didn't know the girl well. Rachel scrolled back through the girl's check out queue and saw that the last six books had all been about vampires… a vast change from her apparent usual histories and romantic comedies. Weird. Why was the head cheerleader on a sudden vampire kick? It wasn't even like she'd checked out Twilight or The Vampire Lestat like most normal vampire loving teenagers. No, most of the books Quinn had checked out were passing themselves off as factual and historic. Like vampires were real. Rachel mentally rolled her eyes. Sure.

Still, if Santana felt it prudent that Rachel check on Quinn's latest reading, then maybe there was something to this after all. Not real vampires, of course, that would be preposterous. But maybe there was some crazed gothic-wannabe-vampire cult out there that Quinn might have gotten herself mixed up in. Pausing to stare into space, the diva briefly pictured Quinn wearing all black and leather clothing, with dark makeup. She snorted with laughter. Surely not. It was most likely she stumbled onto something on accident.

Of all the possibilities of who could have taken Quinn, Rachel felt that 'vampires' were the least likely on her list. Nevertheless, this was her only lead and Rachel would be damned if she didn't give it her all. Quickly closing the windows and setting the screen back to where it had been before the diva had decided to break several school rules (and possibly laws), Rachel bolted over to where the she knew the books to be located just in time to see the librarian come back from her break.

Rachel watched the old woman carefully to see if she had noticed anything out of place on her computer. She didn't. The diva mentally cheered for herself before grabbing the necessary books and heading over to check out. The librarian looked disdainfully down her nose at Rachel when she walked up carrying an armful of books and politely (Read: snappily) told Rachel that you could only check out three at a time. With an exasperated sigh Rachel moved to a table to pick out the three best options.

Running her hands over each in turn, Rachel settled for two of the newest (she needed the most updated information after all) and almost grabbed another, when a cold gust of wind (where did that come from) blew open the cover of one of the oldest books. It was leather-bound and looked almost as though it were hand written. The brunette paused, simply looking at it, trying to gauge if anything else weird was going to happen.

Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder and it took everything the petite diva had not to shriek as she whipped around. Puck looked apologetic. As Rachel opened her mouth to let out an epic rant about not scaring the life out of people, Puck cut her off. "Sorry Berry, didn't mean to scare ya there. You just looked so intense staring at that book, I thought maybe you were waiting for it to talk to you or something."

A glare was all he received in response.

The mohawked boy shrugged. "So I'm having a party at my house this weekend." When he saw the look of hesitance Puck clarified, "Strictly for Glee club. So, ya comin'?"

Though Rachel was relieved that she wouldn't be accosted by various jocks and Cheerios, she felt it would be a bad idea to attend one Noah Puckerman's parties. It was pretty much guaranteed that there would be alcohol, and Rachel knew how well that worked out for Quinn. She didn't need to repeat her mistake. Besides, she still had research to do

"While I appreciate the offer, Noah, I'm afraid that I must politely decline. You see, I have a lot of reading to catch up on this weekend and-"

"Yeah I can see that, there's like what, six books here? And you want to read all of them THIS weekend? I know you're kind of a nerd, Berry but damn."

Rachel huffed slightly, offended that she had been interrupted and at the name calling. "Actually, due to the school's ridiculous limitation of three books at a time, I am only taking these three home this weekend and will return for the rest on Monday."

"Right… well I know you go through books quickly, so you'll be done by Friday night anyway. Come on, Berry. You don't get out much and you can't miss one of my parties. They're legendary!"

_Indeed_, thought Rachel. "Be that as it may, I really don't think-"

"Great!" said Puck, cutting the diva off once again. "See you Friday night!" The boy leaned closer and lowered his voice. "And don't worry... this time, the Puckzilla has protection." He chuckled at Rachel's scandalized expression and walked away, leaving Rachel gaping after him.

_Like I would EVER let him come near me again after last time. Especially after that whole babygate fiasco. Not a chance._ Rachel shook off her thoughts and gathered her books before making her second attempt at checking out. Puck had been right about one thing though, Rachel would most likely finish her books by Friday and she didn't have any plans. She never did for Fridays. Perhaps as long as she kept her distance from any liquor the party might not be such a disaster. Rachel mentally added Puck's party to her to-do list.

The rest of the week passed rather quickly for Rachel. She had temporarily taken a hiatus from her search to devote her time to reading the books she had checked out. Well, perhaps it wasn't really a hiatus, since it was all linked, but anyway. Rachel found herself surprisingly unable to put the books down, absorbing any and all information they presented her with. She learned that real life 'vampires' (not the gothic wannabe's) were actually able to walk in the sun. None of that turn-to-ashes stuff, and certainly none of the sparkly crap. They didn't grow bumpy horns on their faces either. Nope, 'vampires' just looked like every day people, they just happened to be a bit paler than most.. and drank blood.

Wonderful. So if Rachel were ever to meet a 'real' (Hah!) vampire, she probably would never even notice. Brilliant. Whatever, its not like they were real anyways. No matter how convincing these books might be. If Rachel were still seeing her therapist, she could guarantee he would be asking her right now just whom she was trying to convince.

Once again Rachel took to walking home while chattering on incessantly to her invisible friend. This had become the highlight of her day in recent weeks. Just that feeling of having someone there to listen to her, even if they couldn't talk or be seen. It wasn't anything Rachel was used to and she desperately hoped her friend never left her.

Approaching her home, Rachel began to hear police sirens. The presence gave off a feeling of alarm that Rachel quickly began to feel too. Rachel picked up the pace and soon her house came into view. Rounding the corner, the diva's fears increased ten-fold as she spotted the police cars that were parked outside her home. Abandoning all pretenses of being calm, Rachel ran towards her dad who was standing in the yard talking to an officer.

"Dad?"

The short balding man that was Hiram Berry turned at the sound of his daughter's distressed voice. "Rachel!" He held open his arms for his daughter that she quickly ran to.

"Dad, what happened? Why are the police here? What's going on? When did it happen?"

It never surprised Rachel's parents just how quickly their little girl could rapid-fire questions. This was no exception.

"I came home early from work and found the door kicked open and our house in shambles. Nothing seems to have been taken, just bashed around. It's going to be ok honey, Daddy is on his way home and we're all going to spend the night at a hotel and insurance is going to take care of it."

For once Rachel seemed speechless.

Another officer walked up to Hiram. "Sir? We haven't found any leads yet, but is there any possibility whoever did this was looking for something in particular? If you could tell us that, we might be able to make better progress."

Hiram scratched his head before shaking it. "I honestly can't imagine what anyone would want from our house.."

The officer and Hiram continued to talk for a few moments, leaving Rachel time to think. After making sure it was ok with the officers, Rachel headed into her house and up to room. On her way, she surveyed the damage. Her dad was right, the house was torn apart. Whatever the culprit was looking for, they were certainly very thorough in their search. The closer she got to her room, the worse the damage was.

As the diva took in her room, she noted that her father was wrong, something was taken. Two out of the three books she had forgotten to return that day were now gone. Rachel sighed and rubbed away at the growing headache. Not only was Rachel beginning to feel like she had somehow stuck her nose into something she really shouldn't have, but she was also going to have to pay the astronomical replacement book fee to the library. This day was turning out to be wonderful. What she really needed was a break. A way to take her mind off things.

And what better way than to go to Noah's party?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Author's Note: Wooh! Once again, thank you so much for all the fav's and alerts! It's very motivating :3 Thankfully the wait for this chapter wasn't as long as the last, though it is about as short in length :/ Sorry's! Also, I apologize for having NO fashion sense whatsoever. I even tried to Google Lea Michele in jeans (with the intent of finding her in jeans, heels and a sexy shirt..) no avail.. That woman loves her dresses.. and shorts.. Forgive my fail. Note: I also suck at writing other people into this xD obviously I don't spend near enough time watching any other characters as I do Rachel and Quinn. Yes this will be FaBerry incase I didn't state earlier. It's just going to take a while.

It wasn't hard to get Hiram to agree in allowing Rachel to attend Puck's party. Apparently he felt it would be a good idea to take his daughter's mind off the stress of the break-in and since she didn't have many friends it would also be a great opportunity to socialize. With his permission to stay out all night, Rachel ran to her room to grab her things and prepare. By the time she was done, it was almost 7and both Hiram and Leroy were home, waiting downstairs to drive Rachel to the party.

Rachel emerged in form-fitting skinnys that made her impossibly long legs go on for miles, a red low cut shirt that showed a decent amount of cleavage accompanied by black stilettos. All in all, she looked hot. The Mr.s Berry smiled at their daughter fondly. "Wow, looks like we're going to be beating them off with a stick, won't we honey?" Leroy asked his husband. Hiram chuckled and agreed before ushering their daughter into the car.

"I know you don't go out often honey, but I'm sure we don't need to lecture you on the necessity of safe sex and pacing your alcohol intake?"

"Of course not, Dad. I am well versed in sexual preparedness and after last year with Quinn… well naturally I won't be accepting any wine coolers tonight lightly."

The music emitting from Puck's house told the diva that probably no one would hear the doorbell if she were to ring it, so instead she simply walked in. The door was unlocked and Rachel was greeted with the sight of Kurt, Mercedes, Mike and Tina dancing to Ke$ha in the living room and Santana was making out with Brittany in a back corner. Artie could be seen chatting with some random girl Rachel had never even met (Puck had clearly lied when he said it was just the Glee club but she supposed that was alright for now), and various jocks and cheerios scattered about the house. Finn and Puck were nowhere in sight.

Almost as soon as she opened the door Rachel felt all eyes turn to her. Thankfully years of facial training helped her not to blush but all this attention (not for her singing) was proving a tad difficult. Plucking all the courage she would normally use for a performance the diva walked towards her fellow gleeks on the dance floor. She was fully aware of the wolf-whistles and blatant stares from her peers. Rachel stopped before Kurt and Mercedes.

"Kurt, Mercedes. How are you two doing tonight?"

The two best friends turned and stared at Rachel, mouths ajar. "Damn girl! Who knew you were hiding all of that under all that hideous argyle!"

Kurt seemed to agree with his female counterpart. "Rachel, you look gorgeous! Why don't you ever wear _that_ to school?"

Finally embarrassment and gratefulness won out and Rachel lost the battle not to blush. "Thank you! Actually it has to do with wanting to be comfortable and not wanting to ruin any of my expensive clothes by getting slushy all over them courtesy of the rest of McKinley. I generally prefer to save my nicer attire for special occasions that will undoubtedly require a different look than that required by school."

By now the party had returned full force and everyone else had mostly gone back to whatever it was that they were doing and Rachel went to the kitchen with Tina to grab a drink and then immerse in dancing with her friends. A heavy bass song that Rachel had never heard before was playing loudly overhead. It and the adrenalin from dancing was quickly pushing the alcohol trough the diva's veins. Suddenly attending this party didn't seem a bad idea in the slightest. In fact, it was probably the single greatest idea Rachel Berry had ever had in her life.

An hour later a tap on the shoulder brought Rachel out of her trance and she turned to the owner. Who happened to be a very cute football player that she couldn't quite recall the name of that was currently leering down at her.

"Hey, can I get you another drink?"

Rachel didn't quite trust herself to speak, instead nodding and accompanying the jock towards the kitchen. Once there, the boy handed her a Solo cup and smiled charmingly. "I'm Aiden. I haven't seen you around before, do you go to McKinley?"

Rachel shook her head slowly. "Of course! But this is my first party so I'm sure that's probably the reason why you've never seen me. Oh, I'm Rachel, by the way." She smiled at him shyly. He really was cute. The last boy she had dated was Finn and though he definitely had it in the looks department, she'd had to resign herself that he would always lack in the brain department. Maybe Aiden would be different?

"Actually, I'm in Glee club. Perhaps you would like to join? It's great for singing-"

Aiden clearly felt this girl was talking too much and nudged Rachel's cup, getting her attention. "Oh, right. Thank you for the drink. Would you like to dance?" Rachel asked awkwardly. Ok, so maybe she had been talking a bit much but she couldn't help it. She was normally very verbose and even more so when she was nervous.

Aiden grinned. "Sure!"

Twenty minutes and six drinks later and the room began to spin for the diva. Vaguely she recalled her father's warnings about alcohol consumption but couldn't bring herself to really care at the moment. Not with her drink keeping her pleasantly warm and fuzzy and the bass drowning out almost any thought. Well, that and the way she was grinding against Aiden felt really good in all the right places even if he was occasionally a little rough in grabbing her.

The song ended and Aiden took Rachel by the hand, guiding her off the dance floor to a secluded corner of the room. "Hey you were really hot out there." He said with barely any slur. It took Rachel a moment to register what he said. When she did, she let out a sleepy smile at the compliment. "Thanks."

"So.. wanna go somewhere more private?"

Rachel didn't really want to but was unable to form a protest as the boy was already guiding her up the stairs and into a bedroom. The door closed behind them and Aiden sat on the bed motioning for Rachel to follow. She did, if only because the room wouldn't stop spinning and she feared she might lose her balance.

As she got comfortable sitting, Aiden's face was suddenly inches from her own and Rachel could smell the alcohol on his breath. She grimaced and could only assume hers wasn't much better. The diva wanted to lecture the boy on the proper etiquette of respecting personal space when Aiden's lips were crushed to hers.

Perhaps if it hadn't been done with so much force it was almost bruising Rachel might have been able to enjoy it. As it was the kiss only hurt and warning bells were going off in her head. Feebly she attempted to push at Aiden's shoulders, trying to communicate the words she couldn't form. He didn't seem to get the message and instead pushed Rachel back to lie down on the bed and clambered on top of the diva, kissing her harder.

If warning bells were going off before, now it was like sirens wailing. She didn't want this to happen. Not like this, a drunken night with some boy she barely knew. Rachel always viewed her first time as being special and utterly romantic. Not like the sloppy, clumsy attempts of Aiden as he hurriedly tried pulling her pants down. Beginning to freak out now Rachel pushed again at the boy's shoulders, harder this time. She managed to turn her head so he kissed her cheek instead and mumbled out a hoarse "stop.."

Aiden ignored the girl's protests beneath him. He was on the football team, he knew he had good looks, and he came from money. No girl could turn him down. And well… if Rachel was saying 'no' now, he would just have to find a way of making her say 'yes' instead.

His large hand groped Rachel's breast through her shirt hard causing her to hiss in pain. A hiss Aiden took to being of pleasure and moved his hand back down to Rachel's pants.

Rachel was borderline frantic now. "Stop! Aiden, please stop! You're hurting me!" She struggled to escape his grasp and get away but the football player wasn't having any of it. His large stature easily kept the girl pinned beneath him and he was almost there. The button and zipper were undone and all he needed now was to get rid of her panties.

The fear and adrenalin caused the alcohol to push faster through the diva's system, making her brain suddenly hazier. This couldn't be happening. There was no way, she, Rachel Berry, was about to be raped in Puck's house. If she screamed, would anyone hear her over the music and come help? Would anyone even care?

Taking a chance, Rachel took a deep breath and screamed for help only to be silenced by Aiden's hand slamming down over her mouth. "What the fuck?" He snarled. "Shut the fuck up! Just shut up!"

Eyes wide, Rachel started crying. She couldn't breathe and Aiden didn't seem to be removing his hand any time soon as he used the other to roughly yank her pants down. He had almost gotten his own down when the bedroom door slammed open.

"What the FUCK is going on here?"

This was the second time in her life Rachel found herself thanking god for Santana. The cheerio stood in the doorway, hands on her hips and a furious glare with Brittany behind her looking on worriedly.

Trying to save face, Aiden gave her a lopsided smile. "Hey Santana. Me and Rachel here are just having a good time, so, if you could close the door?"

Aiden hadn't removed his hand from Rachel's face and Rachel began to panic again. What if Santana just thought Rachel was going to 'get laid', and left her to it? The diva quickly began to struggle to release her mouth. Anything to get the cheerio to notice that Rachel did not in fact want to be here at all.

Even if Santana hadn't noticed the hand clamping down painfully on Rachel's mouth and the way the girl's eyes widened as she tried to shake her head vehemently, she knew something was seriously wrong here. For one thing, everyone in Glee club had (unfortunately) heard exactly how Rachel envisioned losing her virginity, and this scene definitely did not fit. No, this wasn't right and though Santana hated the girl, there was no way she could simply let this happen.

"Really? Because it looks to me like you're about to force yourself on a poor drunk girl who can't do anything to defend herself. So unless you're looking to go to jail for life for rape, I suggest you take your hand off Berry's mouth and drag your drunk ass out of this room now. And if I _ever_ see or hear about you pulling this shit again on anyone, Not only will slushies become a daily routine for you, but I will personally make sure every guy on the football and hockey team knows what you've been up to."

If looks could kill, the jock would have been dead on the spot. Grumbling about 'stuck up bitches', Aiden let go of Rachel and shouldered his way out into the hallway and downstairs, leaving the three girls alone.

With the Neanderthal gone, Brittany and Santana sat next to Rachel on the bed, checking her over. "Are you ok?" asked Brittany gently.

Rachel was still mostly in shock, but those words snapped her out of her daze and she realized that she was safe. Immediately she burst into tears and latched onto the blonde girl. Brittany just held the diva as she cried, and in a rare moment of kindness, Santana rubbed soothing circles onto Rachel's back.

"Don't cry, Rachel." Said Brittany. "We won't let him hurt you. Will we San?"

Santana shook her head, even though Rachel couldn't see it. "No. It's one thing for us to slushy you in the hallways, but it's another for that guy to try and force himself on you. That was fucked up."

Finally Rachel pulled herself together enough to look at her once-again saviors. "Thank you so much for getting him off me! I don't think I've ever been more grateful to have been occupying a room that you two were going to use to engage in sexual intercourse in! If you two hadn't showed up…" The diva shuddered.

Brittany just looked confused so Santana answered for her. Despite being thoroughly drunk and almost traumatized, Rachel could clearly still speak in paragraphs. "Berry, we weren't in here to have sex, we were in here to save you."

Rachel stared at the Latina. "What do you mean?"

Santana glanced at Brittany. "Britt here just said that we needed to go upstairs to help you. I remembered what happened last time, so I just went with it. I didn't think I would find you under that… grossness."

Rachel now turned her questioning gaze to the ditzy blonde. "Brittany?"

Smiling her usual oblivious smile, Brittany nodded. "Yup! I don't know why, I just suddenly felt the need to come up here and get you. So I told San and we did! And now you're saved. Yay!" She clapped her hands excitedly.

As if her day couldn't have gotten any weirder, it just did. Rachel found herself silently thanking her invisible friend who was no doubt behind her championing yet again.

"Well, no matter how it was done, thank you both so much for saving me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't showed up."

Santana grimaced. "Whatever, Berry. This doesn't make us friends or anything. Just one girl sticking up for another in a fucked up situation. You're still probably going to get slushied on Monday. Anyways, Britt and I are going to sleep in the room next door so if dumbass decides to try anything again, just bang on the wall a couple of times, k?"

Rachel smiled. She knew the Latina hated to show any emotions and this was her way of distancing herself now that she'd already saved her so Rachel simply smiled and nodded, thanking them again. After the pair left Rachel locked the door just in case and went to bed. It had been a long day and now all she wanted was to sleep the alcohol off.

Most teens said after their first experience said they would never drink again, only to go right back to it the next weekend. Not Rachel Berry. This night had given her a lot to think about and frankly, she never wanted to repeat any of it. Beer would not be making a return in her life any time soon.

Closing her eyes, Rachel's mind wandered back to the day's events. Question after question repeated themselves until her breathing slowed and evened out drifting off to sleep.

Author's Note 2: Not sure how this turned out. I had two possibilities and went with this one. I'm thinking of re-writing it. I feel it's a bit rushed. Let me know what you think please?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, nor the characters, only the idea. Any opinions expressed in this fic are purely for storytelling purposes and I do not claim them as my own.

Author's Note: YES ITS AN ACTUAL CHAPTER UPDATES! So… I will always have an excuse ;P I joined AmeriCorps NCCC! It's actually a pretty amazing program, and if you need money for school, dunno what to do with your life, and like helping ppl, join it! It's 10 months of volunteer service for 18-24 year olds, in exchange for a scholarship, as well as your food & housing & medical taken care of for that 10 months. Pretty badass, right? Anyways, so not to say I haven't been writing, because I have. It's just really hard to get internet (I have it on my phone, but need wifi on my laptop to upload… so I can read, but not post). The downside, I was writing future chapters, and not like 6-8 which is what I needed to be writing :P So I apologize if this part seems rushed or sucky. I take full responsibility. I kind of forgot where I was haha. Also: thank you for every review and alert It makes me smile inside when I see it, and reminds me to get my butt in gear and write. Also: anyone else notice I like… switch tenses in my stories? SOOO not intentional. I need a beta. I had a beta, but since it takes so long for me to get a chapter written, I usually forgo the beta in favor of getting my fic out faster. Should I just continue trying to get them out asap and just try harder to not switch, or should I officially go through a beta?

Monday rolled around and Rachel made sure to pack an extra bag of clothes, just in case Santana was being truthful about slushying her. No sense in running the risk of having to walk around all day in wet sticky clothes. That just made it even more humiliating, if that was possible. Fortunately to Rachel's surprise, Monday didn't go like that at all.

From the moment the diva set foot in the hall she was flanked by Brittany and Santana on either side, effectively creating a barrier between her and the rest of the potential slushy throwing student body. Rachel desperately wanted to question this, but knew better than to do so. At lease while in public; that would seem like she was questioning them as well as having no idea what was going on (which she didn't). Rachel would have to wait until they were in private to run her queries by the duo.

As it turned out, she didn't have to wait very long. Within minutes the two Cheerios had steered Rachel into the nearest girl's restroom. A quick glare from Santana had sent the few other occupants scurrying, leaving the room open for discussion. Rachel looked cautiously from one girl to the other, suddenly unsure how to approach this situation. To her relief, Santana saved her the trouble.

"Look Frodo, here's the deal. Britts here seems to think you're like some poor lost puppy-"

"Duck!" Brittany corrected happily.

The taller brunette smiled indulgently at her counterpart. "Right, Britt, a duck." She returned her steely gaze to Rachel. "That can't handle her and needs to be protected at all times and shit like that." Santana blatantly ignored the diva's indignant squawk and continued. "So what we're gonna do is, between every class, B and I will walk you to your other classes. Shouldn't be hard, we somehow had the misfortune of sharing most of your classes. You're not going anywhere in this school by yourself. I'll put out a slushy-ban on you tomorrow, but for a while we're gonna be tailing your ass just in case. Then, after school we'll drive you home and pick you up the next morning. For some reason Britt thinks you're in danger, and if something happens to you then Britt will cry."

Santana let the unsaid 'if that happens' hang in the air long enough for Rachel to get the hint. "Got it, midget?"

Dumbfounded, Rachel nodded. Of course, her shocked silence didn't last long like Santana had hoped it would. "That is very… kind of you, Santana, even if your reasons aren't as noble. Nevertheless, if we are to be spending such an inordinate amount of time together, I must insist that you cease calling me such demeaning names. If calling me by my first name is truly too much of a task for you, I will accept you calling me by my last name."

The Latina bristled and would have launched herself at the little diva for even daring to make demands, were it not for her blonde companion whom had placed a calming hand on Santana's arm. She sighed in surrender. "Fine. But if you start one of your stupid rants, I will not hesitate to deck you, got it?"

Rachel knew better than to smile right then. It was as good as she was going to get, and Rachel knew Brittany wouldn't let the Latina lay a hand on her, so effectively; she had all her bases covered. "Deal." The three girls left the bathroom and continued on with their day as planned.

Pretty much every day went like this, with the little diva being escorted to everywhere by both Santana and Brittany. There were very few times when Rachel found herself not being accompanied by both girls, but on the rare occasion that happened, there was always at least one of the pair around. At first Rachel loved the attention she was receiving, but after the first week she began to sorely miss her 'alone time'. Not that Rachel was really alone even then as her 'friend' was always lingering in the background somewhere.

But that's exactly what the diva was missing: being able to simply chat with her friend without the fear of someone seeing and thinking she was crazy (well... more so than usual at any rate). With every single moment being watched by the duo (and if it was for whatever reason impossible for either to be there, they somehow always managed to rope someone else to accompany her) Rachel found herself increasingly irritated at her lack of space. It was infuriating, almost. She wasn't some sort of doll about to break at any moment.

So when Santana approached Rachel one afternoon saying she couldn't drive her and her midget self would have to find another ride, the diva was so happy she completely ignored the jibe at her height and quickly assured the taller brunette that it was no problem and she could easily find another way home. On a normal day, Santana would have noticed the blatant lie and simply arranged another ride herself, but she was in such a hurry to get to her appointment she just nodded and left in search of her Britts.

As soon as the Cheerio left Rachel bolted to her locker as fast as her legs could carry her, doing everything in her power not to just start shouting to her friend how excited she was while in full view of the student body. To her, it was like she couldn't get off school grounds fast enough. If anyone thought it was weird that Rachel was running out of the school like a mad woman, nobody said anything about it. At most they shot her a scandalized look when she accidentally bumped into them, but other than that, nothing.

Once outside and a safe distance down the road she burst into chatter at her friend, going a hundred times faster than her usual rant. One could suppose that it was because she had been holding in a week's worth of conversations, and Rachel being one to never hold back what she was thinking, was simply bursting at the seams.

"Oh my God, I thought they would NEVER leave! Phew, Can you believe that? I mean, not to say that I'm ungrateful that two of the most popular girls in the school (aside from Quinn, and she will return) are spending time with me, but really! Never a moment's peace. When I'm at school, there's Santana and Brittany, and occasionally Noah or someone else from Glee. Then once I'm home, there's Dad and Daddy. Is it too much to ask for an hour to myself? Just one hour. It's all I ask!"

Finally Rachel had to take a breath, and her friend seemed amused by this rant entirely, so much so, that Rachel could swear she heard the most musical (and familiar?) laugh drift across the wind. The diva blushed. "Okay, so maybe it is a little like looking a gift horse in the mouth, but you can't say you didn't miss me too..?"

Her friend didn't seem to miss the vulnerability in Rachel's voice and sent waves of comfort towards her, effectively letting the brunette know that her friend had indeed missed their time together. Rachel smiled softly.

"Anyways, I was thinking today of taking a different route home. There's a park I used to go to when I was a little girl that I've really wanted to show you. It's slightly out of the way but I think it's worth it. Besides, we haven't really had time together in a week, is it so selfish of me to want to add an extra thirty minutes to our route?"

As usual, there was no verbal response, but a definite feeling that it was okay. Rachel set off, chattering away about all of the things she had wanted to say during that week but hadn't had the chance to. Were it anyone else Rachel was talking to, she was sure they would have yelled at her to shut up by now. But not her friend. She found it kind of funny, she found it kind of sad that the only friend she had was completely invisible to her. Not even able to verbally respond, leaving Rachel to do the talking for the both of them (not that was a problem for the little diva). Still she appreciated that her friend never made any indication that they wanted her to be silent. What would be said if Rachel weren't to do the talking?

After giving her friend a brief history of the park Rachel plopped herself down onto a swing and proceeded to slowly swing back and forth, never really going too far in either direction so conversation was still possible. She loved days like these. It wasn't perfectly sunny. In fact, it was rather overcast, but with more than enough light to make the surroundings visible. Despite the slight dark tint to the clouds it was obvious it wasn't going to rain any time soon.

Eventually even Rachel Berry ran out of things to say. She elapsed into silence to just enjoy the nice day. She had quickly lost herself in thoughts and memories, but nothing really important. She was so immersed she almost didn't notice the sudden change in the air. The clouds seemed to grow darker and an ominous feeling filled the air. Once again the tiny hairs on the back of Rachel's neck stood on end.

The brunette rose slowly and looked around. "Friend?" she asked quietly, wondering if they could offer an answer to what was going on.

A dark blur seemingly appeared out of nowhere, ramming into Rachel's side and knocking her to the ground. Something above her was pinning Rachel to the ground, preventing escape. Rachel thrashed about frantically in hopes that somehow she would manage to dislodge whoever was on top of her. No such luck. The person (it had to be a person, she could feel their cold hands holding her wrists) on her just chuckled lowly. Something about the way they laughed made Rachel realize her attempts were useless. Finally she stopped struggling and looked into the eyes of her captor. She gasped.

Their eyes were the color of fresh blood. They could have been hypnotizing were they not filled with so much such malice. Rachel thought for sure she was going to die. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't human. She sadly accepted this fact. If she couldn't have dislodged it earlier, she wasn't going to have much luck in the next few minutes so she chose to observe her attacker instead of struggling more.

It was definitely a boy. He looked to be about twenty-three, with shaggy brown hair. Aside from his eyes, another disturbing quality in this man's appearance was his extremely pale skin. He looked as though he could have been a vampire. Oh wait, were those fangs? Yup, they definitely were. Vampire indeed. Where was her friend when she needed them?

"Ah, finally you see how pointless fighting me is. Good, that will make this a lot quicker. It's a shame I have to kill you, I think you would make a nice addition to my collection." His words were silky, as though he were trying to seduce Rachel, not kill her. Not to mention she didn't even want to know what his 'collection' was.

"Why?" was all she could ask.

The man laughed joyously. "You mean you don't know yet? Oh this is rich! Absolutely rich! That makes this situation all the more pleasurable for me. I will enjoy sucking the life from your body, especially if you don't even know why you are meant to die." He slowly lowered his head towards the diva's neck and Rachel's attempts to free herself resumed once more. She hadn't even got onto Broadway yet, she couldn't die!

Just as the man's fangs were about to pierce Rachel's flesh, the weight on top of her was suddenly gone. Rachel blinked dazedly. Was it over? Was she dead already? Or had her friend come in time to save her?

She sat up and looked around to see the man who had attacked her crouching low to the ground several yards away. He was hissing at something, and as Rachel followed his line of sight, she noticed a blonde (girl? The hair was up in a tie, so she assumed so) situated in a protective stance not too far from her. She wanted to know more about her savior but couldn't see their face from where she was. Rachel moved to stand up and thank her savior, when the blonde spoke up.

"No, Rachel! Run. Go home and get to safety."

Rachel blinked. She knew that voice…

The man who had attacked her spoke up. "Yeah, go ahead and run little girl. You won't get too far before I catch up, and then… then you'll wish you'd let me drink you dry back there."

"Shut up, Keller!" The blonde snapped. "She is in my territory and therefore, I can protect her or kill her as I please. You have no business being here, I can't believe you would interfere again! You need to leave. Now. I won't kill you this time but I will report you to Jace and I promise he won't be happy with you."

If Rachel had thought she was saved, Keller's condescending chuckle quickly changed her mind. He knew something they didn't.

"Please. That threat might work if she was an ordinary meal, but you and I both know that's not the case. Jace got tired of you spurning his offers to join our coven and decided to find out just what was keeping you too busy for him. Seems you've been following around this little shit like the sun shines out of her ass. Add to that who she is and well… Jace decided he couldn't let her live. I've been given orders to take her out by any means necessary and if that means taking you out too, well that's just a bonus."

The blonde sneered as though unaffected by what Keller had said. "Like you stand a chance in hell of beating me. I could kick your ass back when I was human, and you really wanna try and take me on in my home territory? I always knew you were obtuse, but this rivals my ex's brain capacity. And that's just sad."

Keller growled, apparently the blonde had struck a nerve.

"So go ahead, try me. Just know that you will not be walking out of this with Rachel. Hell, you won't be walking out of this at all. I don't believe that she's the one the prophecy speaks of, but if she is, you're for damned sure I'm not going to let anything happen to her. Last chance Keller, back off."

In response the man (vampire, Rachel reminded herself) launched himself at her savior. The two were moving too fast for Rachel to really comprehend exactly what was going on. Everything was a blur, only growls and hisses could be heard. Soon it was over and the world seemed to come back into focus for the diva.

Before her lay what was left of Keller's body. Mutilated and bloody, the head was clearly twisted around too far for him to be alive. Rachel stared in shock, unable to really understand everything that happened. This man was a vampire. He had wanted to kill her because he thought she was part of some prophecy? And now he was dead, thanks to her savior. Her savior!

Rachel snapped out of her stupor and looked up, chocolate eyes finding hazel. Her breath hitched.

"Quinn?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Author's Note : Ok so like.. TRIED to do my research and didn't do too hot, so sorry if I'm horrible at explaining this or if my info is incorrect. I actually thought of these types of vampires before I learned there were terminology and books to describe it. But now that I know I'm trying and probably failing to define it probably but please don't kill me for it. I used Google and some of Richelle Mead's info from her book series Vampire Academy (I feel I butchered it for my purposes. Disclaimer: I don't own that either lol)

A/N2 Yeah I know y'all wanna shoot me. :/ My muse decided to make an appearance finally though. So yay? Sorry it's a short chapter.. Though I do greatly appreciate all the reviews, faves, and alerts. They motivate me. Slowly but surely.

Warnings: Its been brought to my attention (I knew but never really thought about it) that I switch tenses. Sorry? I'll try harder lol but I don't even realize I'm doing it. I write it as it occurs in my head and I guess my mind can't settle on what it wants.

Rachel stared up at Quinn unable to find something to say. A myriad of things were running through her mind, from 'oh my God, Quinn just killed a vampire to oh my God, Quinn's alive! And here!'

Abruptly her shock wore off, and Rachel found a thought to focus on. It was amazing how fast the diva could move, really, considering she had almost just died but that didn't stop her from practically tackling the blonde in a crushing hug. Rachel immediately began sobbing with relief. She wasn't crazy. All this time Quinn had been alive, she knew it! Quinn was alive!

Before Quinn could return the hug though, Rachel pulled away and slapped the girl, hard.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

If looks could kill, Quinn would have been dead and buried right that second. Rachel's glare was so fierce it rivaled Quinn's former HBIC look. The irony was not lost on the blonde.

"What was that for? The nerve of you, Quinn Fabray! Your friends and family have been grieving for months believing you to be dead, yet here you are alive and well, and you have the gall to ask me _why_ I slapped you?"

A small smile visible briefly on the former cheerleader's face before it disappeared so quickly Rachel almost thought she had imagined it.

"Well excuse me. If that's how you treat people who've just saved your life, Manhands, next time I'll gladly leave your ass to die."

And just like that the Quinn Rachel had always known was back. Somehow it made everything seem easier to deal with if they were both back in their respective roles. Years of practiced animosity certainly made it all the more easy.

"Don't insult my intelligence by pretending that you would have left me here to die, we both know that wouldn't have happened. It seems you've been taking care of me for several months now, for whatever reason that may be, and I highly doubt you would stop now. There's something in this for you, and I am quite confident you won't let anything happen to me because of that." Hands on her hips for added effect made the routine all the easier to fall into for Quinn.

"Whatever, RuPaul. I just didn't want to have to listen to your god-awful dying shrieks. I did that for me, not for you."

The two girls were engaged in an intense stare off, neither willing to back down and admit defeat. Finally, in the hopes of getting some answers Rachel reigned in her anger and looked away.

"Look, I get it, of all the people you could run into after being in hiding or whatever it is you've been doing these past months, the last person you would want to engage in a conversation with is me. No one made you save me though, you could have just as easily walked away. Obviously you have something invested in me since you have been stalking me for so long and yes I know it's been you. So I think the least you can do is answer a few questions without insulting me every five seconds."

Quinn stared incredulously.

"Are you serious right now? I save your life and you think that entitles you to demand answers from me? You should be totally kissing my ass right now!"

"Quinn, you've been 'dead' for months now. No matter the situation we're in, you do owe an explanation for all the pain you've put your friends through!"

The blond at least had the decency to flinch at the image of her two best friends crying. She hadn't wanted to hurt anybody. It wasn't like she chose for this to happen. Quinn sighed and rubbed her face tiredly.

"I didn't-it wasn't-" She paused to collect her thoughts. "I never would have chosen to abandon everyone like I did. I didn't exactly get a choice in when I was going to.. to.. Look, in order for you to understand, I'm going to have to tell you some things. Things that won't make much sense, things that will make you think I'm completely nuts. But I'm not and if you interrupt me during this, I am going to slushy you so bad your skin will be permanently stained purple. I need to finish this before you start asking me questions at a million miles an hour, or we will never get through this. Got it?"

Rachel nodded saying nothing. Quinn took this as a good sign and turned out of the park, leaving a dumbstruck diva behind her. She made it several paces before looking over her shoulder and shooting Rachel a wry smile. "Are you coming, Berry? Or are you just going to stand there and catch flies?"

The pint size bundle of talent shook herself and caught up to the blonde. Apparently she wasn't being ditched and answers were going to be given. She couldn't wait!

They walked in silence for the better part of an hour. In theory Rachel assumed Quinn was taking her to wherever she was staying before they talked. A perfectly reasonable notion thirty minutes ago. Now as they were nearing the shittier parts of town Rachel was getting antsy. Quinn could handle herself just fine clearly, but that didn't mean Rachel wanted to risk getting jumped again this time by some unfortunate homeless person or some such.

Sensing the brunette's discomfort, Quinn spoke up. "Don't worry Berry, it's just a little further up the road. You'll have your precious answers in just a few minutes."

She wasn't lying. The pair came upon a shitty looking apartment that looked like it should have been condemned years ago. Actually it probably was. What was Quinn doing in a hole like this?

As they walked through the doorway the usual poise the blonde possessed stayed outside and Quinn sounded almost embarrassed. "I know it's not much but it's got the basics and that's all I really need. Once I tell you everything you'll understand why I'm here and not in some fancy suite uptown."

Rachel smiled reassuringly, and tried to show that she wasn't judging Quinn. Much at least until she heard the full story. If Quinn's reasoning was deemed unfit by her Rachel would insist the blonde stay with her immediately. No one should have to live in a dump, especially not someone like Quinn who simply screamed the finer things in life. Not in a snobbish way of course but more of that's just the way it should be. In Rachel's mind anyway.

The apartment had just the basics alright. A one room with only a couch not even a bed. Rachel could see the bathroom and the kitchen from the entryway, both of which were sparse. How could she stand living here? (note to self: elaborate further)

Setting her things down by the couch and taking a seat herself Rachel watched as Quinn hastily tried to tidy up a little bit. It was rather endearing to watch, knowing that the former HBIC actually cared what Rachel thought of her.

"Would you like some water or.. something? There isn't really much to eat or drink, but I mean there is water if you're you know, thirsty." Quinn's question trailed off towards the end and Rachel had never seen her look so shy.

"How very hospitable of you Quinn. I appreciate your offer however, I feel it would be best if perhaps we get the ball rolling, so-to-speak?"

Immediately the blonde was all business again. She took a seat on the opposite side of the couch near Rachel and folded her hands in her lap, contemplating where to start. With a deep breath Quinn began.

"It all started about a year ago…"

Haha cliffy. :P whose plotting my murder yet?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Author's Note: It's like one big monologue. Just Quinn talking in this chapter pretty much. I've written and re-written this chapter several times just today and STILL am not satisfied with it. Grr. I put a rush on it, that's also probably why it's not so great haha sorrys. I decided to split it up into a couple of chapters to get it out faster to y'all.

"Remember hearing about those 'mysterious deaths' just outside of Lima? Well something about them just didn't sit right with me. Not just in the obvious 'hey young girls are being murdered out there, maybe I should watch my back' kind of way, but as in there just wasn't enough information being looked into. I'm no detective but I've watched enough CSI to realize when there's more to the story than is being said.

Normally I wouldn't have given it any more thought but for some reason it just stuck with me. I would find myself thinking about it at the most random of times, in class (understandable, its boring), in Glee, even at home watching TV. I started becoming obsessed with these murders. I wanted to know who was killing all these girls and why. Everything that was available to the public just didn't make sense. Eventually I realized I was just going to continue obsessing til I did something about it. So just call me good ole' Sherlock Holmes.

There wasn't a whole lot to go on at first, until I ran across one of the suspect's descriptions. No name was available of course but I noticed he seemed to turn up in almost all of the cases. A major thing like that would be noticed, wouldn't you think? And maybe elevate this to serial? I wondered to myself why hadn't the police released this to the public. If that guy was at almost all the murders, wouldn't you want to warn the community to be on the lookout?

So from there, I began to suspect a cover up. I delved into it a bit further and found similarities between all of the murders. The deaths were all of girls around seventeen with brown hair, and all had been drained of blood. Sounded like some vampire wannabe to me. I wanted to laugh at first but the clues kind of made it an impossible theory to ignore. At this point I sort of understood why the cops would want to keep this information away from the general public, it seemed rather crazy. People would likely panic and begin a witch hunt looking for anybody who looked tall dark and broody if they didn't just laugh it off as I did at first.

Funnily enough, or rather not, a day after uncovering this I noticed a man frequently trailing behind me. Were it not for the fact that he looked an awful lot like the guy described at the murders, I probably never would have noticed him. I never managed a decent look at him but from what I could gain from my peripherals, this man was tall and dark, but certainly not brooding. In fact it seemed as if he was just having a grand old time whenever I saw him. If anything it made the creeptastic factor go way up in my book. Nevertheless I continued my search all the while keeping an eye on this guy.

Since my gut was hinting at vampire (crazy as that seemed), I decided to stick with it and began checking out books on them. There wasn't a lot I found I could really trust. Mostly there were just books like Interview with A Vampire and Twilight. No, this guy walked in the daylight without turning to ash or sparkling, so these weren't for me. I almost gave up, thinking I would never find anything even mildly factual.

Later I stumbled across this old leather book titled **Strzyga.** This one seemed almost like a history book. Everything written in there passed itself off as fact. It didn't take long for me to be convinced that it was true or at least some parts of it. Armed with this new information I decided to confront my stalker.

Logic would state that I should confront him in a public area in case anything went wrong. Fate however, didn't seem to agree with that plan. Every time I tried to catch him in public he would mysteriously disappear almost like he knew what I was trying to do. I tried unsuccessfully for weeks. After a while I kind of forgot about him. Like not really but more of I had other important things on my mind.

One day after school I headed to my car to go home but of course with my luck, it wouldn't start. I had stayed behind to put in a little extra studying time. There wasn't anyone on campus by the time I'd left, even Coach had left by the time I got outside. I tried calling my mom who was working late. I knew I should have probably just called Santana but I figured a walk might be nice. Not too cold out yet, you know?

Poor life choice.

I'd made it almost home when I noticed that guy following me again. Already annoyed that my car had broken down I really didn't want to deal with this loser stalking me so I finally called him out on it.

He didn't seem to mind in the slightest that I'd called him a vampire. It was funny, he didn't bother denying it or laugh in my face calling me crazy. He just smirked at me and introduced himself as though this were a common thing to accuse strangers on the street of being blood suckers. Who does that?

Anyways, he said his name was Jace and he had been watching me. Naturally I scoffed. As if I hadn't noticed. Then it really started getting weird. Jace started complimenting me on putting everything together. Not many humans would have and if they did, they usually wouldn't have believed it but I did and he admired that about me. Cue the creep factor.

Jace told me that I was undeniably beautiful. 'Worthy of the grace of being a vampire' he said. Like that sentence was even graceful? Uh hello, no. At that point I began to sense danger, instincts I guess, and tried to discreetly look for places to escape to. Jace noticed and laughed. It wasn't a creepy ominous laugh though. It was like he was actually amused.

He commented on how it entertained him that I actually imagined I could escape him. He then tried to reassure me that I was in no danger. I called bs. One more thing for Jace to laugh at. I was really getting sick of this guy laughing at me. I wasn't some sort of joke, I was still the HBIC of McKinley even if I wasn't necessarily a Cheerio anymore. There was no way I was going to tolerate this.

Sensing my outrage Jace stopped laughing but kept his annoying smile. He told me that I still wasn't in danger. In fact I was being offered a gift that many humans would kill for. Hearing that I knew what was coming and I was not okay with it. Without another word I took off down the street. My house was in sight, surely I could make it that far. I was a former Cheerio, I was trained to be able to run at full capacity and still function. There was no way Jace was that fast right?

Wrong. I'd just barely managed to grab the handle to my front door when I felt Jace grab me from behind and spin me around. I began to scream at the top of my lungs while hitting him with my fists. Surely someone in this neighborhood was home. Someone would hear me and come to help.

Jace just pinned my arms to my sides and leaned in towards my neck. 'Don't worry this won't hurt much. I promise the life I'm giving you is better than what Lima, Ohio can offer. Besides I think eventually you'll grow to like me.'

The last thing I remembered was feeling almost unbearable pain in my neck as the sound of my own screams died down.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: As always, don't own anything but the plot.

A/N: I am hungry. Why is it… every time I watch a zombie movie.. or think about vampires, I get intensely hungry? Is that weird? Am I psycho? Lol hope not. I think mostly it's just because I'm thinking about zombies and vampires being hungry, aka focusing on the feeling of being hungry and then projecting it onto myself? Oooh or am I secretly infected and going to go all Resident Evil on the unsuspecting world? xD omg I love sleeping pills and writing before bed they make my lovely loopy mind happy. Zombie squirrels… for anyone who gets that.. you're amazing.

A/N: SPECIAL thanks to jupiter01 who was awesome enough to edit this and make it actually decent, as opposed to my usual crap Seriously, she's amazing.

I awoke to a really soft bed. Groggily I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. The room I was in was elegant with deep red curtains almost a maroon, dark polished floor boards, a luxuriates chandler with the candles lite, a dresser on the wall with a mirror on the wall attached to it, next to the dresser was a book case filled with books that looked like they have never been read. I realized that the bed beneath me was a memory foam mattress with Egyptian cotton sheets. On each side of the bed I noticed two nightstands with black lamps with a deep red cloth draped over the light keep the room dim. I didn't know where I was but wherever I was, it was definitely a high class place. Even my parents would have had a difficult time affording this lifestyle.

Not waiting around to find out what happened, I made a quick haste to get out of the bed. Unfortunately, the searing pain from my neck with my sudden movement seriously impeded that decision. I'd questioned all that had happened before. I certainly didn't realize now.

Wait! Oh my God, did that mean I was a vampire? Nooo, that meant I didn't have a soul and I was going to go kill innocent people by drinking their blood, no this was not okay I am not going to do this, I refused!

I paused mid rant.

I sounded just like Berry for a second there which brought a smile to my face, however temporary. Secondly, if I was worrying about hurting others that had to mean I had a soul right? Cuz, if you don't have a soul then you just don't care who gets hurt or at least that was my  
logic to it.

There wasn't much time for me to ponder it because a knock sounded at the door a moment later. I didn't bother inviting them in. Whoever they were, they probably wouldn't listen whether I invited them in or not.

It was Jace. Oh great!

I was petrified again. I wasn't sure what was going on in my life (possible unlife?) right now all I remembered is the pain and terror I felt the last time I spent time with this man. He either didn't notice or more likely disregarded my fear and sat down in front of me on the  
bed.

Jace placed a 'calming' cold pale hand on my forearm and asked me to relax. I sneered. The last time he told me to do that he made my neck his snack not ten minutes after. Hell if I relax around him again and I told him as much.

He sighed and looked away like I'd just told him his grandmother died or kicked puppy. He explained to me that I might hate him now but eventually I would be grateful for his 'gift'. That once I'd healed properly I would be stronger and faster. I wouldn't live forever but I definitely  
would live longer than any normal human would.

Clearly I wasn't getting away any time soon so I decided to play along and get all the information I could on him. On what my life now was.

Turns out I wasn't undead. At least, not what the horror movies portray. I wasn't about to go attacking people mindlessly while trying to suck their blood. Yes I would need blood frequently to survive but it wasn't like I'd need it every single day. Nor would I need to kill my  
victims in order to get the amount of blood I needed. I also had a heartbeat.

Technically I was alive, I was human but just a faster then I was before, stronger with the occasional needed a little blood donation to keep my body functioning at the high level that it was. Wonderful! It would be possible for me to go for long periods without blood. It wasn't  
recommended to stay away from blood for so long though, because even though it wasn't our primary food source (we could still eat normal food), it was our source of life.

It was pretty much just to replenish what our bodies use up. For whatever reason that no one really knows, despite having fully functioning heart, our bodies couldn't reproduce the blood needed to survive. Or at least, not at a fast enough rate for all our enhanced abilities to keep up with. We also healed from injuries quicker if blood was given to us.

Speaking of 'us'; There was a name for the type of vampire Jace and I are: Moroi. Also known as living vampires. As they're pretty much humans themselves for the most part they're all pretty neutral. Not particularly interested in the maiming and killing of innocents, only taking enough blood to live and move on. Usually they would put their victim to sleep for the bite, and then leave them peacefully so they would think it was all just one really bad dream. Vampires weren't  
nearly as scary as I'd first assumed. Ok, I could deal with this.

As Jace and I continued sitting on the bed he told me about the Strigoi. Dead vampires. Those are the ones you see in horror movies brutally murdering innocent people. Jace didn't give a ton of clarification on this (much to my annoyance), only that they were once dead bodies that were now walking around. If he hadn't told me of their cold calculating ways, I would have simply called them zombies. Not so much. While the Strigoi had no care for whom they killed, they were far from mindless. They didn't just require blood to live (far more than we Moroi did I might add), they also fed off the fear of the dying. They made sure that the fear from there victim was at the utmost high to get the most out of there victim. They relished in it. They thrived for the blood and the fear. I shuddered at the thought. It felt like the room I was once comfortable in now seems so cold and lifeless.

After that history lesson I asked Jace when I could go home. Of course my life would never be that easy. Apparently I'd been considered 'missing' while I was sleeping off my bite for several weeks, to my surprise. Believe me, if it weren't for my new and improved body, I probably would have had a heart attack at that moment hearing that.

Missing for weeks? It felt like I'd JUST passed out. According to Jace the body takes a while to adjust to the new changes and the best way for it to do that is when the person is asleep and they stay asleep for several weeks just growing accustomed to the changes. That didn't take into account a whole other week just to recover from the bite (and I haven't had any fresh blood yet).

Jace told me that he was sorry (yeah right) for removing me from my life, but he was confident I would enjoy my new one. His mansion (so THAT'S where we were) had anything I could ever want. There were also lots of Moroi wandering about, both in his employ and just visiting, and  
no doubt I would make new friends. Riiight.

Of course, I would have to spend another week in bed while I recuperated. Jace said he was having blood sent up to me by his right hand man which would help my recovery rate greatly.

Just then a man wearing a tuxedo barged through what Jace had told me was the door to MY permanent room without even knocking. Rude. On top of that, he was the greasiest man I'd ever seen. While Jace looked to be about my age (who knew how old he really was though..) this man looked to be about thirty years older. His dark hair was slicked back and his skin seemed  
almost yellow as opposed to mine and Jace's pale. He handed me what was in his hand: A warm blood packet. I quickly dropped it in disgust.

The man didn't seem put off in the slightest. While leering at me he informed Jace that his guests had arrived downstairs and were waiting in the foyer. Jace nodded once and stood up. Before he left he introduced his second in command as Keller then headed out the door.

I couldn't have been any more uncomfortable if I'd tried. This man looked about 50 and in poor hygiene. Add to the fact he couldn't seem to stop his eyes from roving over me, I felt in desperate need of a shower. I wasn't trying to sound rude when I dismissed him (read: "get  
the hell out you perv!") but I really just wanted to be alone right then. I needed time to absorb all that new information. Keller just smirked and gave what I'm sure he thought was a charming 'As you wish, miss. Have a pleasant rest of your day', I couldn't help but feel if I was to embrace this new life of mine, I would need to stay the hell away from this guy.

So began my life at the manor.


End file.
